The present invention relates to a pump for pumping fluids and particularly to a pump whose fluid delivery rate may be varied according to the discharge pressure.
In a known pump assembly a number of pumping elements such as rollers or pistons are spaced around a central rotating shaft and mounted in a carrier. A cam ring around the carrier and the pumping elements has an internal surface having one or more symmetric internal lobes, which cause the pumping elements to move radially with respect to the carrier as the carrier rotates. The cam ring and carrier arrangement is located between a pair of side plates. Suitably disposed inlet and outlet ports in the side plates can cause fluid to be drawn into and out of the circumferentially located spaces between the pumping elements; and the internal and external surfaces of the cam ring and the carrier respectively, in an axial direction. The fluid is drawn in at circumferential positions of the cam ring between the lobes and discharged at some angle further around the cam ring (near the lobe tops) at high pressure.
The difficulty with this arrangement is that the discharge flow rate is nominally fixed to be proportional to the rotational speed of the shaft. Any excess fluid flow has to be returned (via a valve) to the pump inlet, with a corresponding loss of volumetric efficiency. The valve is an additional device which should be avoided if possible.